


Pleading Insanity (at the Apocalypse)

by AnonymousAutumn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Currently there's nothing much, Gen, I should be studying instead of doing this, I'll update the tags as I go, Set at 5x11, but hey, switching POVs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24269977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousAutumn/pseuds/AnonymousAutumn
Summary: They were just doing a normal hunt in a mental hospital. It shouldn't even be complicated.
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first chaptered work!! Please do go easy on me...

“So?” Sam says, drawing Dean’s attention who is hanging up the phone call with an unpleasant face, which probably means this job will be a messy one or it's going to have some unpleasant dress up. 

“Martin needs our help,” Dean sighs, and Sam can see that he’s annoyed just by his face lines. Huh. Annoyed. Messy job? “Problem is, he’s in a mental hospital. I’m not doing it. Hell no.” 

Oh, so _that's_ why. The taller hunter briefly makes a face, but sighs. He dislikes doing a job in mental hospitals, too, but… “Dean… you know Martin helped us a lot before,” he tries pleading with his older brother. “So I think we should help him, you know? Repay the deeds.”

“And get in a friggin’ _mental hospital_?” Dean exclaims. “Sam, are you crazy?” then he pauses while Sam rolls his eyes at the unintentional pun, while the older brother just slowly grins and chuckles. “Mental hospital. Crazy. Ha.”

The younger Winchester pouts. “Dean… come on. You know Martin saved dad a lot in the past,” he tries bargaining, knowing that the subject he’s bringing up brushes a certain part in his brother. After all, they both have strong emotions about their father, so… “Come on. Dean, we have to help him.” Not to mention they pretty much need to stay busy after the whole Ellen and Jo incident… and they didn’t even get to meet Lucifer, damn it, not even Cas saw the infamous fallen archangel, despite the multitude of reapers who were in the vicinity.

It’s so weird. Not only have they never seen or heard Michael talking for himself, now Lucifer is supposedly free and he’s… not showing up either? Like, what’s up with that? Are they both chickening out of this? But what about the whole vessel thing, like Gabriel said? Even the trickster archangel believes his brothers are out, right? He even tried to get them both to say yes! But… then… what? Sam can’t stop thinking about how weird all this is. 

Dean made a face but sighs. “Fine,” he concedes but looking decidedly unhappy about what Sam is planning for them to do. Of course he knows, Sam thinks, a mental hospital case. What else can they be? “It’s easy for us to go in, anyway.”

“Well, true,” Sam agrees as he pulls out his fake ID. “I’m Alex van Halen. What’s yours? Come on, we gotta make a hospital reference.”

“Edward van Halen,” Dean says, grinning then wincing. “I sound like that Twilight vampire dude. Not cool.” 

Sam snorted. “Hey, _you_ made these,” he laughed. “No complaining.”

“Shut up, _Alex_ ,” Dean made a face. “Bitch.”

“Jerk.”

…..

Sam looks around in the mental hospital he and Dean are in, sighing. There were no signs of… well, anything, except the patients, who claimed they’ve seen some bizarre things, which is… unreliable, at best. X Files, really? Lobster claws? He sighs. There’s Ted who claims he sees the other patient die, which is good, and Sam puts it in his mental compartment, but he’s thinking about asking some other patients in there… after all, there are some…. Um, _saner_ ones, like… like Nick. In the group, he seems normal enough. Lost his wife and child, having visions of fighting, falling, ringing, and talking in his head, but that’s it.

As interesting as psychology is, Sam really wants this session to be over so he and Dean can talk more about the monster and if Dean finds anything in his sessions… maybe the patients in Dean’s session are more lucid? Who knows, right?

He sighs. This session is… so… weird. He really wishes he can just go around snooping-- okay, that sounds so creepy, but come on. These people… even if they’re kind of sick in the head, their lives matter. Who’s not a little sick in the head? Sam’s pretty sure he belongs here, at least a little… both he and Dean… but no. They’ve got to save people and hunt things. 

He blinks when he feels someone looking at him, and catches Nick briefly looking but then glances away from him. What’s up with him, now? 

Sam has a gut feeling saying he should keep an eye on Nick, but he dismisses it. Nick’s just a depressed, traumatized man; he has every reason to keep an eye on Sam.

\---

“Why am I here, again?” Nick mutters, rolling his eyes as he crosses his arms and leans back to the plastic chair he’s in. He can see the mental hospital’s newcomer… what’s his name, again? Alex, if he’s not wrong, but… the short-haired man sighs. He has the feeling that this Alex is… well. Honestly? He’s sane. Very. And honest, too… kind of. Not about his identity, that’s for sure, though how Nick knows it’s for sure is beyond him. He just _knows_ when people lie.

It sucks, especially with these insane people, who are now telling shits about this weird monster thing which is killing people. 

Ted’s telling the truth, and it’s unsettling as hell. Monsters? Monster-killing...

Nick then feels eyes staring at him and he raises an eyebrow at Alex, the guy he chose to call Apocalypse guy. Huh. Apocalypse. It’s ridiculous… or is it? He didn’t sense a lie when Alex told his story except for his name. Not about the Apocalypse, not about the monster hunting, not about the angels and demons… and… weird as it is, the story of the Apocalypse gave him chills. If this is all happening, and everyone just chooses not to know or just decides to ignore this… 

He looks over at the man calling himself Alex and takes a breath before looking away. Alex. Not Alex…. But why does he… feels like something… missing...

“I think this session is over,” the doctor-- he never bothered to learn his name, just calls him doctor Boring-- says, and it cuts through Nick’s thoughts. 

The sandy-haired man gets up from his seat and leaves, intent to find a friend of his who is in the afternoon session. ‘Friend’ is a loose term, though… roommate is a fact, but ‘friend’ is a loose term...

…..

“So,” Adam heard, and he looked up at Edward-- his name was Edward, right?-- tries greeting Adam casually, though it falls flat on the younger man’s ear. “You seen anything weird lately?” 

Edward van Halen. Why does it feel like this newly admitted crazy person is resonating in him? Something he felt… like when the former medical student first met Nick the widower in this very same mental hospital. All familiar, but… not the name. Everything but the name. Adam eyes the newer patient, sighing when he realizes that he was actually being expected to answer. “Only the patients,” he grumbled out. He doesn’t want to mention the… _things_ that ate his mother alive, took a bite out of him before he manages to run… 

The green-eyed man blinks. “Alrighty, then,” he says, prompting Adam to walk faster, away from Edward, just wanting to go back to his room and, by extension, to his roommate in this prison of a hospital, Nick Vaught. 

In his haste, he nearly body slams into the big and tall _other_ new patient, Alex. 

“Oh, hi. Sorry,” the long-haired man sheepishly says. “...I’m Alex. And you?”

“Adam,” is the quick, no-nonsense answer, though Adam is a little curious. Where is he heading? “...there is nothing this way, only the empty meeting room and a morgue,” he informs the tall man, who blinks. “Are you looking for someone?” Adam tries to ask.

“Um,” Alex stutters. “I’m… lost.”

Lost? Well, that makes sense. A lot of it, actually. “Do you need help going back to your room or I can lead you to the cafeteria,” Adam offers, trying to be nice to the new guy in the crazy house. 

“I was looking for my brother, actually. D-- Edward van Halen, did you see him?” Alex inquires softly, and Adam glances at the tall man from the corner of his eyes. The transition was so smooth he barely caught it, but he did. Is he… is Edward not his real name? Huh. Is _Alex_ a real name too? He should ask Nick… the widower has a very good lie detector in his head… 

“Edward? I just passed him.” Ah, damn it. Adam probably should’ve lied about that, he’s curious about what this tall patient wants to do, but whatever, what’s done is done. Adam’s too used to being very honest; first, it was a lesson from his mother, and second, having a lie detector as a roommate basically forces you to spill. “He’s… I’m not sure where he is, maybe the cafeteria? I can lead you there.”

“...please,” was the soft-voiced answer, which kind of surprises Adam. For such a big man, Alex can have a small voice. Huh. Well, then.

Adam beckoned to the tall man to follow him, tilting his head as he did. Hmm… this hospital is also pretty straightforward, how did he get-- wait. Mental hospital. Right. Right… schizophrenia, hallucinations… who knows what this guy is suffering?

There’s a pause as they walk together. “So… Alex, right? What business do you have with… um, with Edward?” Adam asks, breaking the awkward silence and trying to start a conversation to lighten up the atmosphere… 

“Just… just worried,” Alex sighs. He doesn’t offer up any other explanation, just that, and damn if that didn’t make Adam more suspicious. So, fake name, maybe fake illness… hmm. Wait. 

“Um, this is kind of personal, but…” Adam glances at Alex worriedly. “What made you come here? Mine is… well, they’re pretty sure I have hallucinations. Which I probably *do* have.” Like he feels he’s not from here, like, this world, or something. Like he could understand the ringing in his ears… or sometimes he felt a weight on his back, pulling him down…

Alex blinks and frowns, and Adam figures it might be because of his straightforwardness? Maybe? Was that too direct? Then the taller man sighs and slumps a bit. “Well, Edward keeps on saying the apocalypse isn’t my fault.”

Oooookay. Okay. Okay, hello, peanut gallery, Adam cringes. But he pats Alex’s back anyway, and says, “There, there… it’s not your fault…” and the moment those words left his mouth, Adam finds himself thinking ‘ _it’s **my** fault_’ and gets really confused at himself. What the hell was that? There’s no apocalypse happening. 

Before the shorter patient can say anything, they arrive at the cafeteria where Alex immediately makes a beeline to the table where Edward was sitting with an older patient… Martin, his name was… maybe…

Adam just shrugs and goes somewhere else. He’s going to get something, maybe a snack, which… sucks. He just dislikes the pudding here. But other than that, he’s going to get Nick… talk to him…

…..

“-- so you see nothing weird,” Dean says, groaning, clearly not pleased with the way things are, and by the words, Sam can understand. “Can we even trust the eyewitnesses here?!”

“Of course, they’re very reliable!” Martin defends his fellow patients, but then Dean glances back at a woman who was dancing the waltz with an imaginary partner, and Sam cringes as he sits down. He gets Dean’s point, and well…. It is true. He’s felt and seen it firsthand earlier in the meeting. Sam still remembers the whole ‘crab claws’ and ‘from X-Files’. It’s not… pleasant to know that they don’t really have a reliable witness...

“You sure about that?” Dean deadpans.

The old ex-hunter sighs. “Look, I know you think I’m a bag of loose screws, but I wouldn’t call you unless I know something sinister is going on.” Sam thins his lips hearing this, but Dean looks pleased and Sam decides he should at least reassure the old hunter.

“It’s fine. We believe you. We’ll look for signs in the victims’ body, alright?” Sam says positively, smiling.

That works, and Martin gave them a small smile, his hand stops drawing for some seconds. “Oh, one more thing,” he adds after a while, glancing around as if he wants to make sure no one hears, and the Winchesters leans closer as they realize Martin’s next words are crucial. “Be careful around Nick… Nick Vaught.”

Nick? Sam sits back in surprise. “But… but why? He looks… well, normal.” _As normal as someone in this hospital can be_ went unsaid, but seems like Dean knows what he didn’t say. “He lost his wife and child, but… that’s it.” Or is it…?

“Pretty sure it was a demonic attack, you know,” Martin says quietly, “the attack on his wife and kids…? I think so. Another man you should be careful of is Adam.”

This time, Dean snorts. “He’s just a normal ex-pre-med student, how dangerous can he be?” 

“... Well, I’m just going to assume you didn’t see his leg,” the old ex-hunter raises an eyebrow. 

“He wears long pants, how could I?” Dean rolls his eyes, and Sam nearly snorts his water at the gesture. It’s just so _Dean_. But he also met Adam, and nothing was wrong with the guy… Well, his mom died, but that’s about it. What does Martin mean by Adam’s leg?

“Yeah, but it’s on his lower leg, sometimes it showed,” Martin insists, “A mark thing…”

“Spells?” Dean immediately guesses. “If that son of a bitch is a witch…”

“No, a bite mark,” Martin cuts off. “Not a hickey. An actual bite mark. Like something bit the flesh off.”

_Okay_ , Sam thinks, _that is strange. And worrying_. But you know what? It can also be something else. This can be solved later. One at a time. They have a monster here which they have yet to figure out. The one who has been killing off the patients… hell, there might be more than just one… 

“Anyway, one at a time, please?” Sam says, knitting his eyebrows a little in an apologetic expression before continuing. “I found the morgue. Actually, Adam kinda pointed it out for me, so I think we can go there and check. What do you think, Dean?”

Sam sees Dean nods, and his shoulders drop slightly in relief. At least Dean seems to be agreeing with him. He just hopes Dean doesn’t just dismiss Martin’s words… There is something about Nick, at least, that sends some shivers up the tall hunter’s spine. Especially when he caught Nick’s eyes looking at him… he still remembers that. It’s as if his soul was being thoroughly scanned by those piercing, cold blue eyes. 

It’s probably just Sam’s luck that he’s met both Nick and Adam at this point. The latter is… Well, pretty normal, honestly, kinda friendly from what Sam’s seen, and didn't really walk weird… hmm. Or did Sam just not see it because he wasn't looking for it? Hmm. He glances at Dean. He should ask Dean. His big brother is placed a group with Adam, so maybe he can ask later… 

“I wonder how he knows where the morgue is,” Dean comments, and Sam frowns. Oh, that’s true. How did Adam know… but ah, maybe everyone knows where it is. This hospital isn’t too big. Maybe the more lucid ones sometimes get bored. “But yeah, one at a time. We can talk to those two later. Maybe they know… something…”

“Maybe,” Sam said softly.

…..

Meanwhile, a male nurse is nervously eating candy. 

_Sam and Dean Winchester. What a luck!_ He curses in his mind, regretting going in this job. Maybe he can go away unnoticed… but aw, man, this one doctor guy needs his just desserts, damn it! He huffs a breath as he peeked at the cafeteria again and winces. He can hear what the old man says, and wellllll…. He’s right. There’s something about that Adam and Nick guy, more than just traumatic past.

But. That’s not his problem. Nope. Those two can fuck the fuck off. But the Winchesters, now that’s the tricky part… not to mention Dean saw him. Aw, damn it. Now they’re going to suspect everyone. If he’s just gone, _poof_ , they’re going to think that it’s this nurse causing all these deaths, and Sammy is so good at hunting him that they’ll find out he was in here and blame him even if it doesn’t look like his motif, and noo _oooo_ he hates being trapped in a holy fire circle! He has wings, you see, big ones, and while the Winchesters can’t see it, it was really _cramped_ in there!!

Hmm, but if he plays his cards right, then maybe he can get a _certain_ Winchester’s attention, even with his currently different look. That would be great. In fact that would be fudging _awesome_. 

Said nurse rolls his eyes when he sees a female patient swoops Dean and kisses the hell out of him. Out of _all_ Winchesters she can snog… 

Oh well. Let’s just play along, Gabriel thinks and vanishes.

……

The day was a bust, Sam thinks and sighs as he and Dean walk out of the dining room and to their shared room. Thank God it’s a shared room, and it’s with Dean. A small good thing, he thinks, trying to cheer himself up. 

“So, nothing?” Dean broke the comfortable silence. “You know we can’t stay here long, Sam.” His tone was more colored with uncomfortableness and deep thought more than anything, but Sam’s too tired to really think about that, right now.

“I know, but there’s nothing with the patients, not in the groups, not other than--” Sam blinks as something clicks in his mind. “... Ted.”

“Ted?” Dean looks up. Well, only slightly up, but up. It’s an achievement Sam’s always a bit proud of. “Who’s Ted?”

“Well, he’s in my group. He says he saw the thing killed Susan,” Sam quickly says, thinking back to the group therapy, eyes darting around as he thinks quickly for a plan. “We can go talk to him. After this, I mean.” Sam’s eyes were wide in excitement. The day wasn’t really a bust, after all, and they can still use the night. “Yeah?”

“Sure,” Dean blinks. “He’s the only clue we got, Sam, we gotta--”

The sentence was cut off by a scream, and Sam and Dean immediately run to where it comes from, and oh God it’s from a room, there’s someone kicking at the windows, screaming, oh God it’s Ted, he’s scared, pick the lock pick the lock oh _fuck_ why does picking a lock feel so hard at times like this-- Sam nearly whimpers as Dean shoves him aside and does the job, glancing around the hall in nervousness.

By the time they get in, Ted’s body is hanging from the ceiling fixture, no one else in sight. They’re too late.

However, Sam barely gives the body a glance, staring at a figure in the hallway his eyes caught.

“What the hell…” Sam hears Adam whispers, his eyes wide, standing a few feet from where Sam and Dean are, and Sam knows that from Adam’s position in the corridor, Adam knows what he was looking at, but just can’t see it too clearly due to the lighting and the angle. He very quickly runs away, probably back to his room. Oh, the limping is now visible, maybe because he’s running.

That must’ve been traumatic, to hear someone’s screams and to see why the screaming died out and finding a corpse, Sam briefly thinks, his eyes wide.

“Sam!” Dean hisses, and together he and Dean run back towards their room, closes the door, and sleeps.

Or pretends to, as in Sam’s case. He can’t stop thinking about what he just saw.

No, not about the body hanging from the ceiling. 

First, how did Adam get out of his locked-for-the-night room? Better yet, there was something barely half a second at the wall behind Adam, a shadow. Why the hell did Adam have that silhouette of a pair of wings behind him?


	2. Chapter 2

Sam was somewhat happy that the first day didn’t completely turn out as a bust. There’s still a second day, though… he rolls off the bed, rubbing his eyes, trying to get himself ready for a second day. “Dean,” he called, “Damn it, Dean, wake up.” It’s halfhearted, at best. He knows Dean won’t like to wake up in this… well, mental asylum. Not that _this_ mental asylum isn’t preferred, Dean just doesn’t like mental asylums in general.

Oh well.

Sam briefly wonders, as he stretches, knowing he can’t really do a morning run outside the hospital, if they can call Castiel down to help them. After all, he’s helped a few times, surely he won’t mind helping out this time?

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when Dean begins to jerk a bit in his sleep and starts mumbling, and looks at his older brother in worry. Dean… might not remember Hell, no, but… Sam purses his lips together. The night proved that isn’t the case, not in his dreams. Hell’s still haunting him. 

“Dean,” the taller Winchester calls loudly, moving to shake his older brother up. “Dean!”

“What?!” Dean wakes up with a gasp, a hand reaching out to under his pillow, and Sam quickly jerks back and raises his arms. “Oh. Hey, Sam,” is the greeting Sam gets as he lowers his hands, and Dean’s hand retracts back to its owner slowly, no guns held. Dean looks a little shocked from the fact that there is no gun, until he remembers they are in a mental hospital.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean mumbles, and Sam just grins. 

“Good morning to you too,” Sam laughs as he goes out for a shower, remembering their strict schedules well, shaking his head as he hears his brother’s loud groan of protest.

It’s starting off to be a good day.

Sam blinks. _Maybe I shouldn’t have thought that_ , he muses for a second.

……

“Alright, Dean,” Sam says, taking a deep breath as they eat their cafeteria breakfast. It isn’t good, honestly, the eggs can use some more salt. It’s not *that* bad, though, Sam’s eaten worse before. Which… well, it isn’t the best standard, but still. “We can sneak in the morgue today, hopefully.”

Dean shrugs, and Sam knows that what he said was already in the plan even before he’s spoken. “Sure. When?” 

“Well, we can probably go after our sessions,” Sam replies, quickly thinking back to their schedules. “... and after your private one, I mean.”

“Cool. I’ll ask the doctor too, if she knows what’s up,” Dean easily answers as he takes a bite out of his own breakfast.

“Sounds like you already made plans.” Martin comes to sit at their table, and Dean looks a little unamused, though Sam catches the subtle flicker and sends him a _just get on with it_ face.. “Ted died last night.”

“We know. We saw him,” Dean replies sharply, obviously disappointed that they didn’t catch the killer in time. Martin’s eyes widen, but not in surprise. It’s not like the screaming isn’t obvious, anyway. “Planning to go to the morgue today, check what we can.”

“Good, good.” Martin nods in approval.

Sam bites his lip a bit, debating on telling Dean about Adam or not… it feels important, but not… maybe not in front of Martin. Definitely not in front of Martin. Poor guy’s got enough on his plate. He can tell Dean later.

…..

So, the guy who claimed he saw what’s-her-name being killed died yesterday, Nick muses, sitting with arms crossed, watching over the room with the ease of someone who’s done this a lot of times. 

Of course he knows. Adam was insistent on checking the screams despite Nick’s eyeroll and comment that _he’s going to be dead anyway and you know it_ , a comment that weirdly, the ex-medical student didn’t deny or even look at him strangely for. It’s something, a shared… something between them that they both had sharp instinct and a penchant of seeing… things. Like that thin, pale man in a suit, last night, walking down the corridor after Adam opened the door, and Nick just _knows_ that Adam saw too last night.

Speaking of doors, that’s weird. It’s like if they wish hard enough, the door would unlock itself. Nick nearly snorts at the thought, it sounds so ridiculous, though it… well, he can’t deny that. After all, at one point, he also opened the door easily after needing the bathroom so bad.

Maybe he’s overthinking. Maybe. Won’t be the first time, won’t be the last. 

After all, this is a mental hospital. It’s _supposed_ to be weird, right?

He scans the room briefly in disinterest before his eyes land at Alex, giving him a once-over before closing his eyes in wonder. That feeling that says there’s something *missing* every time he looks at the taller man is there, again, and stronger. 

The moment Nick opens his eyes again, his eyes meet Alex’s, and they just stare at each other for a few seconds before those hazel eyes turn away. Nick sighs quietly, recognizing the suspicion and confusion Apocalypse guy was practically oozing, what’s with the glances and stuff.

Wait. Suspicion?

…..

One second, Adam’s sitting in boredom in his group session, listening to the story of this woman’s son calling her yesterday, and the next he’s struck by a sharp ringing in his ears. A sharp ringing that can, in his opinion, break glass and probably his eardrums but somehow he understands what it says-- no, what they’re saying.

He knows what this is. The sounds are there again and Adam immediately closes his ears, even if he knows it was futile. “Stop,” he mutters weakly, and he feels a hand on his shoulder and a voice-- female, probably his doctor, but he can’t hear what she says, instead he’s listening to the ringing in his ears, the ringing that is now saying things in overlapping voices, as if there are multiple sources and as if it was pieces of conversation, like _doing a case, it’s the Sword and the Abomination_ and _find them, him_ also _start the war, we need to, we need--_

“Adam?” A deep voice cuts through, familiar and not at the same time, and Adam looks up with wide eyes to a set of green eyes. Oh, it’s just Dean. Wait, Dean? No, that’s…. That’s Edward. No, that feels wrong…. It’s Dean. Dean Win--

“Edward. Edward van Halen, please, step back,” a female voice Adam recognizes as their doctor says sternly as she steers the tall, freckled man back to his seat. 

Dean-- no, Edward-- no, Dean-- damn it! Well, whoever he really is, Adam can feel his stare on him as the doctor calls a nurse, just like whenever he has this, but this clearly isn’t a normal episode.

Everyone else just looks at him in sympathy and some in indifference. That doesn’t matter. The one that matters is the surprised recognition of _something_ from the owner of the green eyes that locked their stare on him.

Adam lets the nurse help him up and to his room without any hassle. This is something he needs to think about.

…….

“Dean,” Sam says as they meet in the hallway leading to the morgue. “Dean, we need to talk.”

“We sure as hell do,” Dean replies, looking as if he’s in deep thinking, and Sam looks at him in surprise as they walk together to the morgue to check on Ted’s dead body. “That Adam kid, he’s danger, alright.”

Sam takes a sharp intake of breath. This is exactly what he wants to talk about. “What- what do you mean?” he asks, in case Dean was talking about something else entirely.

“So he had an episode in the group session today,” Dean starts to explain, “and he covers his ears as if he’s listening to some shit, and was saying stuff like ‘stop, no, stop’.”

“.... that doesn’t explain a lot, Dean, we’re in a mental hospital,” Sam sighs.

The older Winchester shoots him a glare. “I’m not done. Look, Sammy. I’m sure he knows something about… you know. Lucifer and Michael. He repeated the word ‘vessel’ and ‘Sword’ lotsa times.”

Sam’s eyes widens. “I… I think so too. Dean, we might- oh, wait, we missed the morgue,” he realizes out loud and they backtrack a bit. “Last night I saw wings, like a silhouette, behind him,” Sam continues as he walks over to Ted’s body and checks for anything strange.

“Wings? So, what, we have another Anna case?” Dean exclaims. 

“Yeah, we might-- hang on, I see a hole behind this guy’s ear.... I think we need to check on his brain,” Sam mumbles.

Dean nods. “I’ll, uh, wait outside,” he says.

……

As they walk back to the cafeteria, Sam snorts. "Pudding? Really?" 

"Crazy works, Sammy," Dean defends himself as they sit, earning questioning looks from Martin.

Sam sighs. “Ted’s brain lacks substance. It’s small and hard,” Sam explains instead of answering the unsaid question about pudding, “So the monster might be something that feeds on… well…”

“It’s a wraith,” Martin realizes, and takes out a book, giving them a rough sketch on what it looks like. “Mirrors will reveal their actual looks. They can mimic humans…” he goes on explaining what the wraiths are like.

“Mirrors,” Dean repeats, and Sam nods. It won’t be easy, of course, but they’ve dealt with worse. Plus, Sam thinks, they have the advantage of being in a mental hospital. A grown man walking around with a bathroom mirror might be normal here, even if it might result in the mirror being snatched away or something. Plus... well. He glances at the curved mirror on the corner of the room. There’s always that, too. 

“Martin…” Sam starts hesitantly, earning him questioning glances from the old hunter. “Another thing. Just… you warned us about- well, about Adam. Why? What do you know about him?” Sam could feel Dean nudge him, maybe to say Shut up, Sammy, he doesn’t need to know, but come on. They’re here already, why not finish that too?

“Adam? Well… not that much,” Martin answers, looking just a bit curious why Sam suddenly asked about the ex-med student, but perhaps decides to help anyway. “Arrived after his mother died, I think. He’s… hmm. At one point I saw him getting an attack. Not pretty at all.”

So… not that much information, then… 

“I saw him get an attack, too,” Dean says, shrugging. The older Winchester just gave Sam a brief sideways glance of _talk about this later._

….

Boring, Nick thinks, yawning as he wanders the corridor for the umpteenth time since he was admitted to this peanut gallery. Well, yeah, he’s supposed to be asleep, but come on. In that bed? He scoffs to himself and continues his pointless walk, humming a random tune, idly thinking about that tall newcomer… *Alex*, right? No. No way it’s Alex, Nick *knows* when someone lies. He just… does, who knows how--

“AAAA _AAAAAAHHHH_!!!” 

The blond man’s head whips to the side, immediately drawn to the screaming, and sprints to the source of the sound. Whose room is this? Is this just someone going into their questionable mental states? What is happening? 

Then Nick stops in front of someone’s room, he doesn’t know who, and he doesn’t particularly care-- and barges in, and someone falls to him-- blood-- and there’s someone else in the room-- 

It happens so fast.

One second, there was a body falling to him, bloodied and clearly dead and a nurse stares at him for a second before charging, the next there was a blinding light and Nick finds himself with his hand raised, and where there was once a nurse, now there’s a body of a nurse, all charred and unrecognizable and slowly turning to ash because air conditioning and--

What?

“The fuck did I just…?” Nick whispers, looking down at the body of the nurse and goes pale. A body. A nurse, and he- did he just kill the nurse? Then he looks down near his feet, and nearly vomits when he sees a dead body of who must’ve been a patient. What he fuck, what the fuck, what is happening, why- what- why--

He doesn’t even move when he hears rushed footsteps that come to a stop behind him. After a few tense seconds, Nick lowers his hand-- he still has it raised, he doesn’t even realize-- and turns to see… a nurse. A male nurse. He’s going to jail, he- he- he just murders someone, and maybe it will look like he just murders two-- and oh God oh God they have families and--

“Luci?” the nurse breaths out, cutting Nick’s thoughts that were spiraling down to his family that was also murdered. “Luci… but how…?”

“Who the fuck is Luci?” Nick blurts out. “I’m- I’m Nick…” his voice falters. Luci… _Luci_. It sounds so familiar, so… so… “I’m going back to my room,” he says, then shoves past the nurse in haste and just runs back to his room, practically wrenching the door open and shoves it closed before he leans back and slid down the door. “What just-- what did I…”

“Nick. Nick?” Nick’s head snaps up as he sees his roommate slide down his bed and rushes over him. “Nick, what happened? Is this-- Nick, is this blood??” Adam asks in urgency, immediately checking Nick over. “What happened? Are you okay? Nick?!”

“I…” Nick gasps for breath, eyes undoubtedly wild, though at least he sees a familiar, friendly face of his roommate and tries to calm down. “I… I killed someone… I killed someone…” his voice broke.

……

Poor guy, Gabriel thinks as he snaps and made it looks like Martin, the guy killed -- ah. By wraith, that’s why the Winchesters are here, must be-- killed himself, and gets rid of the monster’s corpse.

But what the hell was that? Was-- did-- oh, it’s undoubtedly Lucifer. That Nick guy-- ha, Gabriel just realized, that’s a funny one. Old Nick, huh?-- he’s Lucifer. But… how? And if Lucifer’s here, then what about Michael? Then Heaven will win, easy, but…

Then it dawns on Gabriel. “Raspberries,” he mumbles. Lucifer fell. As in, became human. That’s the only explanation, and…as for Michael… wait. That Adam guy, he remembers the files, hallucination about… oh. Oh, no.

Gabriel groans. He just wanted to give his just desserts to that doctor, and now this? 

He needs to talk to the Winchesters.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed that! Comments greatly welcome, and I really hope I can update this soon. I've got exams coming up, though...


End file.
